Minorities were the majority among babies born in U.S. in 2011

The number of white births fell by 11.4 percent, compared with 3.2 percent for minorities, according to Kenneth Johnson, a sociologist at the University of New Hampshire. (Photo from Takaisono's photostream via Flickr)

WASHINGTON -- New estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau reveal
white births are no longer a majority in the United States, making up
49.6 percent of all births in a 12-month period that ended in July 2011.

For
the first time in American history minorities -- including Hispanics,
blacks, Asians and those of mixed races -- were the majority, making up
50.4 percent of all births in that period.

This change in the nation's demographic has long been foretold, though no one was certain when it would occur, reports Discovery News. Though no longer the majority overall, whites still maintain the larges single share of the total births.

As
a whole, the nation's minority population continues to rise, following a
higher-than-expected Hispanic count in the 2010 census. Minorities
increased 1.9 percent to 114.1 million, or 36.6 percent of the total
U.S. population, lifted by prior waves of immigration that brought in
young families and boosted the number of Hispanic women in their prime
childbearing years.

The change could be contributed to the high
fertility rates of Hispanics, who produce seven births for every death,
along with the declining number of births for whites as many women
postpone having children, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The
number of white births fell by 11.4 percent, compared with 3.2 percent
for minorities, according to Kenneth Johnson, a sociologist at the
University of New Hampshire.

In 348 of the nation's 3,143
counties, or 1 in 9, minority populations across all age groups are the
majority. When considering only children under 5, the number of counties
with minority populations that make up more than 50 percent increases
to more than 690, reports Fox News.

The
census estimates used local records of births and deaths, tax records
of people moving within the U.S., and census statistics on immigrants.
The figures for "white" refer to those whites who are not of Hispanic
ethnicity.

Pointing to a longer-term decline in immigration, demographers believe the Hispanic population boom may have peaked.

"The
Latino population is very young, which means they will continue to have
a lot of births relative to the general population," said Mark Mather,
associate vice president of the Population Reference Bureau. "But we're
seeing a slowdown that is likely the result of multiple factors:
declining Latina birth rates combined with lower immigration levels. If
both of these trends continue, they will lead to big changes down the
road."

William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution
who analyzed the census data, noted that government debates over
immigration enforcement may now be less pressing, given slowing growth.
"The current congressional and Supreme Court interest in reducing
immigration — and the concerns especially about low-skilled and
undocumented Hispanic immigration — represent issues that could well be
behind us," he said.

The data foretell other shifts, including in mindsets. "This is an important landmark," said
Roderick Harrison, a former chief of racial statistics at the Census
Bureau who is now a sociologist at Howard University. "This generation
is growing up much more accustomed to diversity than its elders."

The majority
of people of Hispanic origin living in Alabama reside in urban areas. In 2010, the top three places
of residence for Alabama's Hispanics were Huntsville, with 10,512; Montgomery,
with 7,998; and Birmingham, with 7,704.